We'd be happy to be as shit as them though. They finished 1st in a difficult CL group and have good chances to reach the 1/4 finals, are in the semifinals of the league cup and still have good chances to win the EPL. Compare this to our "achievements" so far. Their squad is top 5 in the world, unlike United's.
Pep Guardiola at City next?
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We'd be happy to be as shit as them though. They finished 1st in a difficult CL group and have good chances to reach the 1/4 finals, are in the semifinals of the league cup and still have good chances to win the EPL. Compare this to our "achievements" so far. Their squad is top 5 in the world, unlike United's.
They are 3 points ahead of us, where is the better chance of success? No team has lost 5 games pre Xmas and went on to win the league. Do we think an old, injury hit squad will perform better or worse as the English season grinds on? I know where my money is.
Again just because United are underachieving doesn't somehow make Citys mediocre achievements any better. We are both bang average atm.
Unlikely Pep would consider Arsenal with their penchant for poaching Barcelona players. Guardiola is a 3 year coach, for now. Not much magic can be done with teams that will need longer than that to get their club committed to his plans other than City, IMHO. United could be a better option but I suspect their management board would be more of a stumbling block than say City. Spurs would be an interesting option and London would make it more attractive but Pochettino appears to be doing fine there. Liverpool might've been an option before Klopp's arrival & Chelski simply wouldn't enter into it in all probability. I'd actually be curious what he could do at Everton but Martinez seems to be a solid choice for them.
United & City, with it still tilting in City's favor would be my guess.
Depressing really that it looks more and more like a done deal. Rumenigge saying Pep is going for a "new challenge" (when I personally expected a next sabbatical) - and the same sources which knew that Pep is leaving are reporting that his next station will be City.
They have three players who could adapt to Pep's football.
I look forward to seeing the rest try.
I look forward to seeing the rest try.
Pep makes decisions which are good for his own career and there is nothing wrong with that. I do wonder how he will be remembered 20 years from now though, it will be tough to define how good a manager he really was.
Nope, we're only a few levels below them.
our squad only needs additions imo, rooney, carrick and young can go in summer. City on the other hand have alot of players reaching 30+ and will need another transition soon.
Reading some of these city posts make me feel a bit better.
However they could still win the leagu or god forbid go far in Europe.
However they could still win the leagu or god forbid go far in Europe.
Shaw wouldn't be starting for City? Behave.
City's squad isn't bad, but top5 in the world? I don't really see what distinguishes them from all the other clubs below the big 3.
If Pep knows what he wants and so do those at Bayern - if we were the answer do you not think we'd somewhat be in on it?
Which squad do you think is as good other than PSG?
Juventus ?
Juve's squad seems pretty decent, Arsenal and Chelsea (if they aren't busy being mad at Jose) are somewhere around there too I reckon. Haven't seen enough of Atletico to judge them this season but they might be a candidate and Dortmund's team looks very strong this season too, though they lack one or two attackers for depth.
City have a better squad than all of those. Atletico have a far better manager but lesser squad. Arsenal and Chelsea definitely don't. Not Dortmund either. Juve after losing Pirlo, Vidal and Tevez are weaker now IMO.
I guess we just rate City's players differently then. I think Hart is average, their defense in general is mediocre/weak (aside from Kompany maybe) and their midfield has problems too, since Yaya is way past it and a liability against good opponents (imo), but still always gets to play. I rate their offense with Silva, KdB and Agüero in particular (though the latter seems to be very injury prone) and Sterling is a good talent, but not a finished player - the rest are nothing to brag about.
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I agree. They have two world class players (although Silva hasn't been particularly great this season, but hasn't been helped by injuries), one of whom is perennially hampered by injuries. KDB is on his way to being a great player. Sterling is raw, and will be a solid player in the future, but I don't see him ever making it to the tippy-top of the tree.
Behind their attack it all becomes decidedly average, at least in terms of a supposed top team. Fernandinho had a good start to the season, but just isn't a top midfielder and never will be. Toure manages to flit between apathy and downright invisibility, with a few select goals here and there masking otherwise poor performances. Their defence without Kompany - who's not even that great anymore - is pretty poor.
Then outside of their strongest XI it gets even worse - Zabaleta has gone off the boil, Bony is a big lump, Clichy lacks any purposeful intelligence, Fernando is just bad, Navas is a speed demon who, like Clichy, has no brains. Demichelis is completely over the hill, and Mangala is just terrible.
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The pisser is Guardiola cannot (would not want to) publicly state his destination while clubs have a manager.
I hope that dipshit Woodward has spammed him with emails and received an answer so we can rule him out.
I hope that dipshit Woodward has spammed him with emails and received an answer so we can rule him out.
Lets just go for Jose, this dream is dead.
How many "world class" players do Juventus, Atletico Madrid, Dortmund and Arsenal have?
Recently:
Atletico - I'd say Griezmann and Godin.
Juve - Chiellini, at a push. Buffon?
Dortmund - Gundogan, Auba, Reus and possibly Hummels.
Arsenal - Sanchez, Ozil and Cech.
Still, I'd take Dortmund/Arsenal/Atletico's starting XI over City's. Those teams have much more balanced teams and substantially better midfields and defences, and I'd fancy them all to beat City 9 times out of 10, at the moment.
Aside from the City triumvirate of Aguero/Silva/KDB, I just don't see that much quality.
City's squad needs an overhauling. They have the oldest squad in the league and one of the oldest in Europe. Sure they are still capable of winning trophies but that won't last very long until some younger faces are brought in.
Quite. I think they'll win the league too. Regardless of last nights result.
Kompaby and Toure have become average all of a sudden? Hart is very good as well, and Sterling is one of the best young players in Europe.
What about Atletico?
And no they don't. They have a far better manager and are a more cohesive unit. City have more individual quality.
Have you seen either for the last season and a half? Toure has retained his technique, but his overall impact on games - in terms of doing what a midfielder should be doing - goes begging most of the time.
Kompany, again, not been the same since his first few seasons at City. Had a brief resurgence at the beginning of the season, but he's nothing like the defender he was (that being said, City are still pretty reliant on him, but that's largely due to the deficiencies of his replacements).
As for Sterling; well, I've made feelings quite known regarding him. I think he's one of the best young English players, sure, but there is a gross overestimation of his abilities on here. I'll wager that Oliver Torres will be the greater player, and comfortably so. He wouldn't get into Atletico's or Dortmund's team at the moment (and neither would Toure). Kompany might be in with a shout next to Hummels.
As for Hart, he's just solid, as far as I'm concerned. Many equally good and better keepers out there.
Toure is an attacking midfielder and a quality one. City sometimes misuse him by playing him as a central midfielder when he's no longer one.
Kompany is overrated by many but still an excellent defender. They've been imperious at the back this season when he's played.
It seems you haven't set the bar too high by the phrase "world class" anyway when you include the likes of Gundogan and Cech who didn't even play much last season. Gundogan has done well this season but had a terrible injury which kept him out causing doubts over how good he will continue to be. So far he's done well but a top top player already? Hummels makes it but Kompany doesn't?
Their back 4+1 is better and their midfield is a lot more solid, despite missing big names. City does have better attacking players, but Atletico have various very good options. Additionally two of City´s key players are very injury prone and Atletico have a lot more promising talents in their ranks. If you actually judge players by their performance and not just by their name, Atletico have a superior squad.
Exactly my thoughts, I was about to write the same thing.
Yep, a lot of people are of the opinion that Simeone just magically gets them to play at a high level - but their sort of back 5 and midfield spine is superb. Oblak is better than Hart, Godin is better than whatever City has, Giménez is better than Mangala, Juanfran than Zalabeta, Filipe Luís than Kolarov, Gabi than Fernandinho, then there's Koke and Griezmann. Not to mention their crazy set of youngsters - Óliver, Saúl, Correa, Vietto, and even Carrasco (would include Koke and Giménez too but they're first team fixtures) on the evidence of this season. Incredibly underrated squad, and no one epitomizes it better than Gabi who gets no respect at all for some reason. All they're missing is a top, top #9; if they get that kind of player (like Falcao in the past), they're maybe even a top 3 squad.
Even without taking the far better manager argument into account, Atletico not only has a better squad than City, but also a much younger with several players still to reach their peak.
Pep would look great in one of our club suits. We've got really nice suits.
How on earth can you know that? It's not like the Atlético Madrid players have shown significantly high level in other environments be it their international teams or previous clubs. Yes a lot of the City players haven't either but the point remains is that apart from the way they are performing under their respective managers, there is no way to conclude that the Atlético players are of higher quality.
Defenders and midfielders in the modern era are pretty much impossible to judge from the eyes of the average fan. It depends too much on the structure of the team, organisation, style ... . It's easy to see why a team that sits so deep, keep it as tight as Atlético does can potentially make its defenders and midfielders look better by simply providing them with more help than one like City that players with a couple of passengers every game and that plays such a high risk type of football. City if anything reminds me a lot of our teams in the '90s. Full of class individuals but plays such a basic system that demands too much from its players. It was never a problem for us domestically as nobody in the PL was tactically sophisticated to take advantage of it bar Arsenal, but in Europe, we looked naïve and tactically outsmarted.
Ok.
It takes an almost envious level of delusion to act condescending having just claimed Atlético Madrid are a Falcao away from having one of the top 3 squads in the world. I salute you Sir!Ok.
Cheers!
I suppose others have made the point before, but I'm quite sure that what Pep loves above all is money, and that's why I've always been pretty sure he'd go to City.
If that were the case he would've already been Chelsea coach, the money boy is Mou
I'm sure you have, but I'm not sure whether that's going to cut it.
Based on Pep's previous stays, where he had first a veritable secessionist independence movement, and then some particularly silly local traditions regarding vestiture and potation, I think you will need to ramp up the folklore.
City at least have Shejks in thawbs running around the boardroom.
What could you conjure up?
Maybe you could dress Woodward and the Glazers in leprechaun costumes and pretend to have some Irish connection thing going on?
I'm sure he's just as much a 'money boy' as Mourinho, and if he signs for City, that will only reinforce my impression.
And there's nothing wrong with that.